Loom check strap



1954 E. VTGLIATURA, JR

LOOM CHECK STRAP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11. 1953 I N V EN TOR. LOUIS E. VI GLIATURA JR.

T ORNEK United States Patent O LooM CHECK STRAP Louis E. Vigliatura, Jr., Worcester, Mass., assignor to Graton & Knight Company, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 11, 1953, Serial No. 336,305

4 Claims. (Cl. 139-161) This invention relates to a check strap for a fly shuttle loom, and more particularly to an endless strap surroundmg the picker stick and permitting a limited motion thereof which, in association with other elements, provides a frictional resistance to check both the rearward movement of the picker stick as caused by the impact of the traveling shuttle and the forward movement of the picker stick after it has thrown the shuttle through the weave.

In this type of loom, the shuttle is thrown at high speed by a picker on a mechanically oscillated stick. The picker likewise receives the rapidly traveling shuttle on its return throw. It is, therefore, required that this picker and its stick be brought gradually to rest in both directions of movement. One construction commonly used for this purpose involves a set of fingers which engage the opposite sides of an endless leather strap surrounding the picker stick and frictionally oppose its movement after the picker stick has moved freely through a required throwing motion. To this end, the space within the strap is made long enough so that the picker stick may start from one end of the strap and move freely to the other. After that, the stick carries the strap along with it under the restraining infiuence of the friction fingers, and thus the strap and picker are brought to a standstill.

The picker stick is so located on a loom that it is difiicult to assemble an endless strap around the stick, and considerable time and elfort has heretofore been wasted in the required dismantling of a part of the loom so that the strap may be put into place. These straps wear out fairly quickly under the pounding action and the frictional resistances involved, and thus require that the loom be shut down for a material period of time as is needed to replace the check straps.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a check strap construction which permits an easy and expeditious assembly around the picker stick and in proper association with the resistance elements without requiring any dismantling of the loom parts.

A further object is to provide a strap construction which is initially a discontinuous strip of material with two free ends readily assembled as an endless body around the picker stick, and yet may be easily removed by a reverse operation. Further objects will be apparent in the following disclosure.

In accordance with my invention, I propose to make an endless strap from a single longitudinally discontinuous elongated strip of suitable material by folding it medially and longitudinally to form a folded two ply laminated strip that is half the width of the original piece, and then inserting half of the folded strip within the fold of the other half so as to form a four layer laminated strap in which the frictional resistance between the contacting parts of the four layers holds the body assembled and causes it to act as an endless member.

Referring to the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the assembled strap;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the partially assembled folds of the strap;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the strap before folding. which shows the grooves cut medially therein;

Fig. 6 is a view of the strap of Fig. 5 folded as a straight stri and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the preformed strap of Figs. 1 and 2 after it has been again disassembled.

Referring first to Fig. 5, a strip 10 of leather, or a rubber coated or unpregnated fabric, or a combination thereof, for example, is cut to an elongated rectangular shape of the required dimensions, such as a leather strip that is approximately 4 x 40 inches. This strip 10 is provided medially and longitudinally with a shallow, narrow groove 11 extending about half the length of the strip and a shallow, wider groove 12 extending the second half. These grooves 11 and 12, as indicated in the sectional view of Fig. 3, facilitate the folding of the strap longitudinally and medially into the U-shape shown in Fig. 6. In its folded form, (Fig. 6) the two longitudinal halves 14 and 15 bordering the narrow groove 11 are in contact, whereas the remaining portions 16 and 17 bordering the wider groove 12 are spaced apart by the total thickness of the portions 14 and 15, so that in the assembled condition the strap half formed of the ply portions 14 and 15 may be inserted as interlayer laminations between the spaced side ply portions 16 and 17 of the other half of the strap, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. After the looped form has been disassembled, the preshaped strap will have the general appearance shown in Fig. 7 in which the folded but unstretched inner strap portion 17 will be substantially unaffected but the outer half 16 will have bowed portions 18, 19, 20, 21 of diminishing heights and lengths, somewhat as indicated. These bowed portions are incidental to the preforming operation wherein the outer portion of the strap ends of the somewhat elliptical body of Fig. l, as is required by inserting the right hand half of the folded body of Fig. 6 into the left hand half, as indicated in Fig. 2, and after usage on the loom. That is, the outer parts 18, 19, 20 and 21 are stretched while the inner portion 17 is under compression.

To assemble a one-piece, discontinuous two ended leather strap as an endless continuous body, the leather may be suitably treated, as with water, steam or other softening agent, to make it pliable and easily assembled. Prior to assembly, the free ends of the strap 10 will have been skived at 24 and 25 at the right hand end, and preferably on the flesh side of the leather strip, and at 26 and 27 at the left hand end. Also, if desired, circular holes.

28, 29 and 30 may be punched in such locations that they will be in alignment in the completed strap. These serve to locate the inter-folded loops of leather and to hold a manually assembled fastener that aids in keeping the skived ends in position. The leather strip of Fig. 5 is preferably folded to the U-shape of Fig. 6 with the flesh side in, so that both the outside and the inside of the assembled strap will be formed of the hair or grain side. The U-folded piece is arranged in a substantially circular form, and the leading skived end 24, 25 (Fig. 2) of the contacting ply portions 14, 15 that is to be on the inside is brought around through substantially 360 to form the inner portion of a circular spiral, and if the holes 28, 29, 30, 31 are provided, these are brought into a lateral matching alignment. Then the inner closely contacting portions 14 and 15 are inserted laterally into the wide groove or space between the outer portions 16 and 17, and all of the holes are brought into alignment. By shoving the portions together laterally until the edges are flush, the strap is thus assembled into the laminated condition of Fig. 1 in which all of the skived portions are opposite each other. The skiving is to provide a condition in which the superimposed bevelled parts provide a total strap thickness substantially the same throughout, as indicated in Fig. 4.

A snap fastener of the general type shown in Fig. 4 may be inserted into the aligned holes 28, 29 and 30, and this will hold the outer skived or bevelled portions of the strap in a fiat contact against the under layers. The fastener may comprise an outer sleeve or socket 35 telescoping with an inner post 36. The post, as is common. may have slight projections and the sleeve 36 may be slit to provide a resilient snap action, so that with a sli ht tap of a tool, the parts may be driven together and will be held together under normal usage, although they may be disassembled when required. Each part has a head or flange which holds the fastener in place. This fastener, however, is not essential for making the strap endless. nor is any other medium required to keep the strap in its final form, but is used primarily for the preis necessarily stretched at the rounded vention of the lap ends from curling outwardly. The strap form is maintained by the'friction between the contacting folds or sides of the leather. If desired, a small amount of cement may be employed to hold the outer skived portions down, but it is to be noted that cement is not used between the main layers of the strap. In fact, in prior art constructions wherein cement has been used to. add strength to astrap, it has been found to be detrimental, since its integral adherence with the outer fibre layers of the leather have tended to pull off the surface fibres as the strap is stretched and thus injure the. body rather than help hold it together.

This strap is held assembled and cannot pull apart. longitudinally under the required usage, because of the. frictional resistance between the continuous layers of the strap on each side of the picker stick. All longitudinal forces applied by the picker stick are distributed through the two arms of each of the four annular layers of the combination strap which is looped about the stick. It will also be appreciated that this strap may be preshaped to a bevelled shape, as is shown in Fig. 6 in the. patent to Howarth #2,291,587 of July- 28, 1942. Likewise, this strap may comprise various constructional features found in the U. S. patent to Lesesne #2,435,749 of February 10, 1948. It may be made of natural or synthetic rubber, and fibrous or textile bodies, such as rubber impregnated cloth, or of other suitable plastic or plastic impregnated materials or various combinations and types of substances in sheet or strip form which have the necessary strength and frictional characteristics for the purpose. A textile fabric or a strip of various types of fibrous material, such as paper fibres impregnated with a flexible plastic which is sufiiciently strong and provides a frictional resistance, may be employed. Of these many substances, I prefer to use leather or leather that is suitably reinforced.

It will now be appreciated that this strap may be assembled without dismantling any part of the loom by merely folding the strap lengthwise to the general form of Fig. 6, and then wrapping it around the picker stick in aproper position after which the contacting ends 14-, 15 may be inserted laterally into the U-shaped spaceprovided by the spaced portions 17 and 18,as indicated in Fig. 2. Then,if desired, the fastener 35, 36 may be inserted through the bevelled or skived free ends of the strap. The strap may be preformed for ease of assembly and held in proper condition and shape on a pair of wooden blocks fitting within its inner surfaces. This type of strap may be made of thinner leather or other material than will be required if the strap were of a single or double thickness. This enables the use of better types of material having greater flexibility or pliability because of that thinness. This physical properties.

lighter weight leather is usually found to have optimum The uniqueness of this construction lies in its having six surfaces in frictional contact in this four layered body and each loop of material will react as if it were a separate element, although all four loops act together to provide the strength of the compound body. Thus this strap will give a longer life and more useful service and provide far greater strength than will straps constructed of the same materials but in a single or double looped form, as shown in the prior patents. Various other advantages will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

It will be appreciated that modifications may be made in the construction and that the above disclosure of a preferred embodiment is not to be interpreted as imposing limitations on the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A check strap comprising a single elongated discontinuous, two-ended strip of leather provided with a longitudinal, medial, shallow groove about which the strip is folded in a double thickness U-shape, and the contacting folded parts of substantially half of the folded strip being located within the U-fold and separating the strip parts of the remaining half and thus being ararnged as an endless. strap of four strip thicknesses having six surfaces in lateral friction contact.

2. A check strap according to claim 1 in which the ends of the strip are skived and substantially overlapping so that the strap has substantially the same thickness throughout, and comprising removable means for holding the outer skived end in place.

3., An endless strap comprisinga single elongated discontinuous two-ended strip of material folded longitudinally and medially as a U-shaped double ply lamination and folded endwise as a multiple looped endless body, one half of the U-folded and looped double ply strip having its ply portions spaced and the remainder having its ply portions closely contacting and inserted laterally between said spaced ply portions as an endless interlayercd laminated body having its loops positioned by frictional contact between the laminations of the two halves of the strip.

4. A strap according to claim 3 in which the strip is impregnated with a reinforcing material and comprising means for holding a free end of the strip in position.

Name Date Bierer Dec. 5, 1939 Number 

